Reading through old newspaper reports and magazine articles, one comes across fascinating and long-forgotten facts.
For instance: Johnny Squires, who won the SA heavyweight title on 12 August 1922 when he stopped Nick van den Berg in the eleventh round at the Durban City Hall, was the first South African to top a bill at Madison Square Garden in New York. He fought WL “Young” Stribling at the famous venue on 6 September 1928.
Squires took a solid punch in the first minute of the fight and his left eye was almost closed soon afterwards. He was also bleeding from the mouth and went down near the end of the round after being hit with a big left.
He made a mistake by jumping up without taking a count and soon went down again, this time taking a count of five.
Early in the second round, Stribling landed a few solid punches to the head and the referee stopped the fight after only 44 seconds of the round.
DEAF MUTE IN THE RING
When Ernie Eustice, a future SA featherweight champion, fought Scottish champion “Deaf” Burke in Johannesburg on 7 April 1926 an unusual problem had to be solved.
Burke was a deaf-mute, and everything had to be written down for him to communicate.
Tiny Dean, the referee, said if there was a knockdown he would “pass” his hand in front of Burke’s eyes.
All was well until Burke was knocked down in the third round. With his head between his knees, he was, of course, unable to see Dean’s hand.
Thinking fast, Dean tapped him on the neck as he counted. But after reaching nine, he forgot that the Scot could not hear, and he shouted “Out!”
ONE THE BEST FROM THE FREE STATE’S
Johnny Ralph who won the SA heavyweight title in February 1947, was one the best boxers to emerge from the Orange Free State. However, he failed in fights against Freddie Mills and Bruce Woodcock losing inside the distance on both occasions.
But there have been other Free State fighters of note. One was Tom Holdstock, who represented South Africa in the light-heavyweight division at the 1920 Olympic Games in Belgium. He also fought as a professional, competing in the heavyweight division from 1923 to 1933.
George “Boer” Rodel, also a heavyweight, was born on a farm near Kroonstad on 14 September 1887. He fought from 1911 to 1916 and also campaigned in England and the United States, with a fair amount of success.
SA heavyweight champion Johnny Squires was born in Bloemfontein on Christmas Day 1901. He had a few fights in Australia and won on points over ten rounds against Johnny Risko in the US. He also drew with Ted Kid Lewis in Johannesburg in January 1928.
Len McLoughlin won the SA amateur bantamweight title in 1929 and was eliminated in the 1930 Empire Games trials by the celebrated Laurie Stevens from Johannesburg. As a professional, McLoughlin won the SA featherweight title by defeating Willie Smith in July 1932.
Jopie Greyling, also born in Bloemfontein, was an outstanding amateur. He won the SA junior welterweight division in 1953 and 1954 and the welterweight gold medal at the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales.
STEVENS SHOCKED AT THE WANDERERS
A memorable fight took place at the Old Wanderers Ground, in Johannesburg, on 3 November 1934 when SA lightweight champion Laurie Stevens met an Italian, Aldo Spoldi.
Stevens, in his usual dashing style, rushed in with a body attack in the opening round but was knocked down for the first time in his career. He rose at the count of eight, but the Italian immediately sent him back to the canvas again.
Stevens forced himself up at the count of six, but Spoldi rushed in and knocked him down again. The South African was saved by the bell and was dragged back to his corner by his cornermen.
Somehow, he won some of the following rounds as the Italian began to tire. Many spectators felt Stevens was fortunate to come away with the decision.
HOLLOWAY AND MALONE FIGHT TO A 73-ROUND DRAW
In another epic encounter, Jim Holloway and Barney Malone drew over 73 rounds on a farm on the Old Kimberley Road on 3 July 1893.
Prizefighting was illegal at the time, but policemen guarded the fighters as they made their way to the venue.
The fight began at 07:45 and was declared a draw at 13:00.
PETER MATHEBULA FIRST BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN TO WIN A WORLD TITLE
Against the odds, South Africa’s Peter Mathebula became the first black South African fighter to win a world title when against the odds he travelled to Los Angeles and on 13 December 1980 outboxed the Korean Tae Shik Kim over 15 rounds to win the WBA flyweight title.
TSIETSE MARETLOANE WINS SUPREME TITLE
Tsietsie Maretloane became the first South African fighter to win a Supreme title when he beat Freddie Rust in Cape Town for the South African featherweight title.
“TAP TAP” MAKATHINI ONE OF THE BEST
Southpaw Elijah “TapTap” Makhathini was the first of the Black South Africans to make the most of the new opportunities when the South African apartheid government allowed black fighters to meet white fighters. He won the supreme South African middleweight title when he stopped Jan Kies and remained a dangerous puncher at the top level until his retirement in 1980.
Possibly Makhathini will always be remembered for the stunning knockout of Charlie Weir in Durban on 25 April 1979 and his knockout of the hard-hitting Daniel Mapanya.
Norman “Pangaman” was an outstanding fighter, but Sekgapane who was born at Tafelkop in the Koster district in the Western Transvaal on 12 March 1948, had an outstanding career, but rather sadly when he met Antonio Cervantes in Mmabatho on 29 August 1978 for the world junior welterweight title, he was possibly just past his best and stopped in the ninth round.
One of the greatest South African fighters never to have won a world title was Nkosana “Happyboy” Mgxagi who on 14 April 1979 challenged the Puerto Rican holder of the world WBA junior lightweight title Sam Serrano, at the Cape Showgrounds at Goodwood, Cape Town.
Early in the fight Mgxaji presented Serrano with a few problems and had a brief moment of glory when he dropped the champion with a right to the jaw in the fifth round.
However, he never followed up and Serrano ended the fight with a left hook followed by a right in the eighth round as Mgxaji’s seconds threw in the towel.